Ticking of the Clock
by My Own Demise
Summary: Tonight he wouldn't sleep, he would simply listen. Listen to the lullaby that the night provided, listen as the world moved on like nothing had shifted, listen as life passed him by like the ticking of the clock.


This is an one shot written for the 100 confessions competition, based on the prompt "Clock" for Remedy Darkness

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy, or the computer this is typed on, or anything really other than the storyline.

_"I use to stay awake at night._

_Listening to the ticking of the clock counting away the hours of the night._

_I miss those nights sometimes."_

Pale green eyes watched as crystal tears fell to the ground below. His small frame wrapped in a washed out red blanket. The boy turned around as he heard the slow creak of a door being opened. "Young Master?" The maid whispered looking at the boy that sat in front of her.

The boy did not respond. It always unnerved her to speak to the child. He was so removed, so cold, even though he was so young. It was unsettling to say the least. "Supper will be ready in a few moments if-" "It's not supper yet." The maid halted in her speak, offset by the child's words. "I'm sorry young Master, but what do you mean?" The child looked to the wall on the right side of the room. "It's 5:46, supper is always served at 6:00 no earlier, no later, just as Father has always had it."

The maid looked at the wall. There was no clock there. There never had been. Yet every time the child spoke of time his vision fell upon that empty wall. He always looked there, and he was always right. Never had the child been off, even by a minute. "Of course young Master, forgive me. I must have been confused." The maid said quickly ducking her head. She looked back once before final leaving the room, and the child, alone.

The boy looked back out the window, closing his eyes as the rain began to bore him. There were two sounds that were constant in his life. His own heartbeat, a steady rhythmic pattern that had never faulted, not even once, and the clock. The constant tick, as steady as a heartbeat that played in the back of all his memories. A constant reminder of each second that passed in his life.

He listened as the rain was drowned out by the steady ticking of the clock. No one could see, no one understood the fascination, the indescribable miracle that was time. Something so simple that had captured the interest of people for years. They said that if you had time and money you had the world.

He had both, so why did he always feel so empty? As if the hollow ticks that the clock created were echoes of his own heart? It was simple, he was empty because he simply forgot about time. His day was dictated by numbers on a clock, his life created by equations and symbols, nothing but a hoax.

The ticking clock stealing away every thought, shifting his mind to think of the future and not dwell on the past. He let his eyes crack open as the lightning illuminated his room. A smile flickering briefly on his face. He put his head to the window, the cool glass sending a wave of calmness down him. He pulled the blanket closer around him. "_1, 2, 3, 4, 5_-" His breaths came with the sound of the clock, and his eyes closed again.

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><p>Eyes of crystal looked over the baron ground before them. Taking in ever feature that he could see for miles on end. The sun was cast low over the horizon, casting an eerie glow over the scene. Nothing felt familiar. His home, his life, his world, everything had been ripped away from him. <em>They <em>had taken _everything _from him. It was as if he were nothing but a tool to be thrown away when they were through with him. He had chosen to leave, but they had forced him into a corner and like the trained attack dog he was, he had fought back.

He felt a surge of pain run threw his back as his wing pressed against his spine. They had cut him from his own life when they had found out. _"You're the new 1 million gill project, isn't that what you always wanted?" _He bit down hard on the inside of his lip, feeling a scream trying to rip its way from his throat. Whether it was from physical pain or something else, he couldn't tell. He walked away from the scene before him.

He wouldn't break, he couldn't break. Even now, there was time. There was always time. As long as his heart kept beating, the clock would keep ticking. He didn't know how long he had left to enjoy either sound any more.

Barriers like his were meant to protect, so how had they hurt him in the end? Dawns rapped expulsion brought a world forgotten crashing back. Stars so bright they were like light, a moon that couldn't be concealed by smoke, and the sound of a life that he could never leave behind.

He found the cave he had decided to hide out in until the storms of life had passed him by. The open caver dripping moonlight into the crevasses of night. He moved to the wall, his eyes taking in the sight. From riches to nothing in so little time. They said that if a person had time and money, they had the world, he had once upon a time had both, now he had neither.

He was dying, the clock ticking away his life like the seconds of the day. He would have laughed if it hadn't been so terrible cliché, a child obsessed with time, no overcome by an over whelming urge to make it all stop. Still he couldn't bring himself to hate that absolute. He sat down in the cave, leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes.

He heard the sounds of the night echo around him, as rain began to fall around him. The absolution of the clock controlling the night. He listened, he would never hate that sound, he would always long for time, if only to make it reverse. His mind was lulled by the sounds, his body weakened into submission. If he died tonight, he wouldn't be surprised. To not wake up, to have to clock finally stop. He let the slightest of smiles play on his lips.

Tonight he wouldn't sleep, he would simply listen. Listen to the lullaby that the night provided, listen as the world moved on like nothing had shifted, listen as life passed him by like the ticking of the clock.

* * *

><p>{A}{N}<p>

Ha, a completely pointless one-shot, to a character I am making you all guess, (Yeah right, cause I didn't make it easy to figure out.) Ah well hope you all liked it.

My Own Demise


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